Effort wasn’t a question for Veritas Christian’s girls basketball team on Thursday afternoon in its first game of pool play in the KCAA state tournament against Wichita Home School.

But the same couldn’t be said for its shooting.

The Eagles shot just 20 percent from the field, committed 24 turnovers, and dug themselves a 14-point deficit in the third quarter. They rallied behind a full-court press, but ultimately fell to WAHAA, 48-40, at Haskell Indian Nations University.

“We really dug a difficult hole from the beginning and just couldn’t get a basket,” Veritas coach Kevin Shelton said. “I couldn’t be more proud of how we fought. We just kept grinding.”

Early on, neither team was able to find any success on offense. By the end of the first quarter, the teams combined for more turnovers (12) than points (10).

The Warriors finally found success on offense in the second quarter, but the Eagles still struggled. Veritas struggled to knock down jump shots against a 2-3 zone, and the team had no success against WAHAA’s length on the inside.

“Their size really frustrated us for awhile,” Shelton said. “When your outside shots aren’t falling, it makes that even more glaring.”

Despite the Eagles’ struggles, they were only down 17-11 after senior Tori Huslig nailed a 40-foot buzzer-beater to end the first half for three of her team-high 18 points.

But Veritas started the third quarter with four turnovers in the first three minutes, and dug itself a 25-11 hole.

“I think we came out a little flat,” Huslig said. “We just needed to pick up our energy. Our energy wasn’t there.”

The Eagles (14-8) did just that with a full-court press midway through the third quarter that forced the Warriors to commit 15 turnovers in the second half.

With two minutes left, Veritas senior Delaeny Shelton, who finished the game with 14 points, made a 3-pointer to close the WAHAA lead to 44-40.

The Eagles had chances down the stretch, but senior Alyssa Krestan and freshman Maria Stieben each missed shots around the basket on consecutive possessions.

“We just had a few shots hit the rim and fall off,” Shelton said. “If one of them had fallen, it could have been a whole different day for us.”

Even after a loss in the first round of pool play, Veritas could still find itself in the championship game with a win and a WAHAA loss. In that scenario, the winner of the pool would be determined in a tiebreaker. Veritas will take on Wichita Classical at 12:30 p.m. today at Haskell.

VERITAS CHRISTIAN (40)

Holly Scott 0-7 0-0 0, Alyssa Krestan 0-7 4-4 4, Maria Stieben 0-1 3-4 3, Chloe Holland 0-10 1-2 1, Delaeny Shelton 5-10 0-0 14, Tori Huslig 7-26 1-2 18. Totals: 12-61 9-12 40.

WAHAA (48)

Faith Schwemmer 6-12 7-10 19, Shiloh Collins 1-2 1-4 3, Erin Mellinger 2-13 3-4 8, Sarah Schwemmer 2-4 1-2 5, Kennedy Hinzman 5-9 0-0 13. Totals: 16-40 12-20 48.

Veritas 5 6 14 15 — 40

WAHAA 5 12 17 14 — 48

3-point goals: Veritas 7-26 (Shelton 4, Huslig 3); WAHAA 4-11 (Hinzman 3, Mellinger). Turnovers: Veritas 24, WAHAA 25.